A programme launched by the last Labour government to improve security and data collection at the UK border has overrun by more than four years and failed to provide "value for money", the National Audit Office has warned.
The e-borders programme was launched in 2003 as part of the UK's counter-terror strategy, and was intended to improve the systems to prevent high-risk individuals boarding planes or fleeing the country. The total cost of the programme and its successors since 2006 now stands at £829 million, the auditors said.
The system, which was also intended to improve data collection on the 118 million people a year crossing UK borders, was intended to be fully in place by 2011. But the NAO found that four years later it is still not delivering the full security benefits promised at its launch — and today UK border staff are still using the outdated systems that the programme was intended to replace.
Of particular concern was the "warning index", a list of travellers of concern that is matched against passenger data. It was set up in 1995 and was intended to be retired by 2002, but is still in use, despite technical limitations and frequent outages – as often as twice a week.
The wider report into the e-borders programme is sharply critical by the standards of the generally measured agency, criticising "over-ambition and poorly understood complexities", an "ill-conceived procurement strategy", "unrealistic assumptions", and "matters missed in due diligence" among a series of other failings.
A key reason for the failure, the NAO said, was the backdrop of the 7/7 attacks and the award of the 2012 Olympics when the programme was being established, which led to overambitious "specific ministerial commitments" that could not be met, leading to frequent breakdowns and IT problems in the system's early years.
Security at the border, the NAO concluded, could still be improved from the present level if officials get a grasp of the programme.
It said: "Increasing the automation of border processes and making earlier and better-informed decisions about those wanting to cross the border have the potential to bring both financial and security benefits that are essential in the current environment."
The auditors also warned much of the £829 million spent on the programme was probably wasted. A long-running legal dispute with the US defence contractor Raytheon made up a large part of the cost.
Raytheon had been contracted to run the borders programme until 2017, but the deal was terminated in 2010 by the Home Office, who cited the company's "failure to deliver to agreed milestones".
This led to protracted legal tussling over the contract, which was eventually settled by the Home Office for £150 million. Much of the dispute took place in a controversial and little known international arbitration body – as reported by BuzzFeed News – whose role could grow still further if the controversial international TTIP trade deal passes.
The NAO said the department's legal costs added another £35 million to the taxpayer's bill. The case, which ran until August 2014, prevented the NAO reviewing the controversial programme any earlier.
The NAO report did contain some qualified praise for progress now being made. In 2003, the UK collected no data ahead of time on people entering the UK, and now has advance passport data on 86% of travellers – though this falls short of an initial 95% target.
The audit body's head Amyas Morse struck a cautious note in his conclusion on the programme.
"The e-borders programme began in 2003, with an ambition which has remained largely unchanged in the intervening years. It was due to have been completed in 2011," he said.
"Since we are now in 2015, with the Home Office still not having delivered the original vision after expenditure of £830 million, I cannot view e-borders as having delivered value for money.
"Some valuable capabilities have been added to our border defences during the life of this project, though their efficiency is impaired by a failure to replace old IT systems."